Applying pressure to the interior of closed vessels



A. GUY. I APFLYING PRESSURE T0 THE INTERIOR 0F CLOSED VESSELS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20, I9I8.

Patented Mar. 1, 1921.

, lowing is a spe anEEnr E. GUY, or WASHINGTON, nis'riucrA or COLUMBIA.

APPLYING rnEssURE 'ro THE INTERIOR or LosEn vEssEEs.

v vSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 1, 1921.

Application mea November eo, 191s. serial No. aeases.

(FILED UNDER THE ACT 0F MARCH 3, 1883, 22 STAT. L., 625.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT E. GUi r, ma]or, Ordnance Department, lU. S. A., a citizen o the United' States, stationed. at Washington, District of Columbia, have invented an Improvement in Applying Pressure to the Interior of Closed Vessels, of which the fol- I 'cificatiom v The invention described herein mayv be used by the Government, or any or employees in prosecution o work for the Government, or by any other person 1n the United States without payment of any royalt thereon. v

llhis invention relates to a method of applying pressure to the interior of closed vessels, and involves an aiplication o f the laws of expansion of ilui s and solids l under change in temperature by means of suitable apparatus.

The invention is Vuseful in treating the walls to increase their resistance to internal pressure, and lis intended particularly for -gun tubes, which .must withstand very high internal pressure each time a shot is fired; but it is not' restricted to gun tubes. A It is also adapted for fitting linings in cylinders, tubes, and the like, and especially for relining gun. tubes.. It is very well adapted for use in connection with the process of treati ing tubes by pressure described in my application Serial No. 258,652, tiled October 17, 1918.

The objects of the invention are rapidity and ease of operation, low cost and adaptability to different conditions of manufacture and use. The inventionconsists in the method and inthe apparatus hereinafter described and claimed. Y

rIhe preferred means and mode of applying the invention to a gun tube is as follows, reference bein drawings whic show suitable apparatus for carrying out the invention. The same characters are used to vdesignate the same or similar parts in the several views.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a side View, partly, in section, of a gun tube, wherein a liner is to be secured by an application of this method; V f p Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the method as applied to a one piece gun tube.

The gun forging l() is rough turned or forged to approximately its `final dimenof its oicers made to the accompanymg sions on the exterior, the interior being left slihtly smaller than the finished size.

.--rod or core 12 is arranged to extend entirely through the gun and beyond its ends, each end of the rod is provided with a washer seat 13 adapted to receive a washer 14 which iits across and closes the end ,of

the tube. The rod may be screw threaded at one end and extend beyond the washer to receive a nut 15,-which is screwed-tight to secure the washers iirmly in place.

In order to seal the ends of the 'gun tube, washers are inserted as shown at 16, vand annular rings 17 secured by set screws 18 are arranged in contact with the washers to form a perfect joint between the parts. p Any liquid preferred having a higher coefficient of expansion than the containing parts of the and apparatus, is permitted to circu ate through the space 19 be- -tween the core 12 and the inner wall of the liner.` Thermostatic circulation is maintained through metal tubing 20 communieating with a bore 20 in the ends of the rod yor core 12 and opening into the space 19. The tubing 20 is of relatively small intermediate its ends, the coil portion 21 being mounted in a heater 22.

bore to withstand the pressure,'and is coiled When heat is applied to ,the coil 21 the temperature of the liquid is raised, arid as the expansion of the 'liquid is greater than that of the tubing, pressure is applied-to the inner face of the tube, as the temperature of the lliquid in the tube is -maintained in circulation, by thermostatic pressure through the pipe 20, and the coil21 in the direction indicated by the arrows'in Fig. 1.

A gage 23 may be inserted in the circulating system to,indicate the' pressure, and a thermometer, 24 to indicate the temperature, .of the` circulating medium to facilitate accurate application of the method to the desired limit.

The pressure produced within the gun tube by the in eansA described may be designed suiiicientto stretch the inner wallof the gun beyond the elastic limit of the steel, and a permanent deformation or set of the inner layers of thesteel is the result. The operation is stopped before the outer layers vare/stretched to their elastic limit. When the pressure is relieved, the outer layers of the steel tend to return to their under compression from the outer layers.A

The condition of the metal in the inner and outer regions of the gun tube after treatment by this method is similar to that of a complete gun formed by shrinking outer bands on the inner tube to compressthe metal.

Following the pressure treatment and the removal of the parts of the apparatus above referred to, the gun is ready for riiiing, fitting the breech and finishing in the usual manner.

What I claim is:

1. The method lof applying pressure generated b external heating means to the inner sur ace of tubes by fluid in a closed system.

2. The method of .applying pressure to the bore of a tube, consisting of including said tube in a sealed circulating system containing a substance expansible under temperature and applying heat thereto remote from the tube.

3. The method ofapplying pressure gen- 4 erated by external heating means, to the inner surface of a tube, consisting of causlng a liquid to expand by heat and to circulate through the tube and a sealed circulating system.

4. The method of securing av liner in a tube by expansion consisting of including said liner in a sealed system and expanding by heat the contents of the system.

5. The method .of treating the inner surface of a gun tube or its liner, consisting of including same in a sealed circulating systemfllled with liquid and heating the 1i uid.

1 ALBERT E. GU 

